April 30, 2024
Hollie Russon Gilman and Sarah Jacob authored an op-ed for NextCity on how AI is being utilized in cities for civic engagement.
Over the last decade, cities and smaller towns across the country have transformed and improved government’s engagement with residents through ambitious use of data, visualization, and mapping. Boston has been using AI to over analyze data from the city’s 311 non-emergency service calls. AI can swiftly show which neighborhoods are receiving better services and easily create visualizations. This in turn helps reduce the burden for public officials who can focus on creating more equitable services and address discrepancies, instead of spending their time on the data analysis alone.
Recognizing the growing use of these technologies, in November 2023, San José organized a national effort, the GovAI coalition. Comprised of more than 400 public servants from 150 local governments, the coalition urges the responsible use of AI in the administration of public services. The coalition strives to “focus on supporting agencies as they implement their own AI governance programs.”